Backcountry travel on Vancouver Island by motorcycle. A guide for overland travellers. PART ONE…
“I may have taught you everything that you know, but
I haven’t taught you everything that I know….”
Author and intellectual property owner: Jonathan Binnington.
Nanoose Bay. V9P9H9. British Columbia, Canada
Land Acknowledgment.
Acknowledgement: I, Jonathan Binnington, as proprietor of Vancouver Island Motosports Events and author of this work, formally and respectfully acknowledge the fact that the lands through which these routes and my events pass, the oceans, mountains, rivers and lakes form part of the traditional unceded and never surrendered territories of Canadian First Nations.
I am grateful for our opportunity to travel these roads.
The First Nations are the Mowachaht/Muchalaht Nations in the place now called Gold River, the Uchucklesaht, Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations in the place now called Port Alberni, the K’omoks, WeWaiKai and WeiWaiKum First Nations in the place now called Sayward and the ‘Namgis First Nation of the Nimpkish and Kokish watersheds.
Together, these First Nations form part of the Coast Salish First Nations of the Pacific Northwest surrounding Puget Sound and the Salish Sea.
On behalf of all travellers who who pass these roads, I thank you.
About the author.
Jonathan is a life long motorcycle enthusiast, husband, father and all those other relationship things… After a 32 year hearing healthcare career in the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, he emigrated to the Vancouver Island coast with his wife, Diane.
Having completed his first career, he has embarked on a second career in tourism and hospitality based in the mid-island area around Oceanside (Nanaimo - Parksville). One of the aspects to his second career has been to establish Vancouver Island Motosports Events www.gr200.com staging road legal motorcycle motorsports events for grassroots motorcycle enthusiasts.
He has developed a first-hand knowledge of the accessible gravel road networks of the mid and north island and shares some of these routes in this book, along with practical advice about how to minimise risks inherent with travel in remote areas.
“Travel responsibly and safely. You may have to rely on yourself to return…”
About this guidebook.
This book is written as a guide to travelling the gravel road network of Vancouver Island.
The routes as described are intended for travel by dualsport and adventure motorcycle. Road legal, cross country capable motorcycles. While the easier (easiest?) routes can be travelled by bicycle and 4x4 vehicles, the more severe routes are not recommended by the author for bicycles and 4x4 vehicles due to the steepness, off camber and narrowness of the terrain.
The routes are organised by location first and then difficulty. “Difficulty” as a concept here is a compound term covering technical difficulty of individual features within a route, the length of a given route and the vehicle chosen to tackle the route. It is hoped that the descriptions contained will encourage riders of cross country-capable motorcycles to develop their skills and confidence and progress from the straightforward routes to those that are more demanding, progressing in riding skills, navigation and local knowledge.
About Vancouver Island.
Vancouver Island is the largest by land area and most populous of the islands off the Pacific Coast of British Columbia.
The Island is separated from the mainland of BC and the coast of the Olympic Peninsular of Washington State by the Salish Sea, continuous with the Puget Sound reaching down to the United States of America cities of Seattle and Tacoma.
Significantly, the coasts surrounding the Salish Sea have been home to the many indigenous First Nations communities of the pre-European colonisation era. Much of the lands and coasts appropriated by the Europeans were not ceded by the First Nations and their land claims remain unresolved.
The Salish Sea was the thoroughfare that connected the First Nations peoples before overland travel was feasible and to this day, a great affinity between the Salish Sea peoples exists in conjunction with Federal, Provincial and State identities.
British Columbia is the westernmost of the Canadian Provinces and Territories and “The Island” is home to around one million residents who enjoy one of the most moderate climates to be found in the country of Canada with winter weather dominated by Pacific frontal systems bringing cloudy, wet weather that often results in snowfall over higher elevations and warm, dry summer weather that sometimes tends towards drought and the risk of forest fires.
The Island consists of a mix of topography, including fertile low land in the south-east, fjord coastlines and central highlands extending from the central island to the north of the island. The central mountains produce a significant rain shadow effect resulting in the west coast of the island receiving significantly more rain than the east coast.
The largest metropolitan centres on the island are Victoria, the Provincial capital at the south-eastern tip of the island and Nanaimo, an industrialised city on the mid-east coast of the island. The metropolis of Greater Vancouver and the associated municipalities along the Fraser River are by far the most significant cities of BC, but due to the arrival of European navigators initially in the vicinity of the modern city of Victoria beginning in 1774 (Juan Pérez) and James Cook (1778) and James Douglas establishing a trading post on the southern tip of the island (1841), the Provincial Capital remains Victoria, the Garden City.
Away from the metropolitan-municipal areas, Vancouver Island remains largely undeveloped. Extraction of “timber”, felled tree trunks for finish processing into “lumber” or wood pulp remains one of the primary economy activities of the island and BC, exploiting the extensive primary temperate rain forests of the central and north island and the replanted forest lands previously clear-cut by the forestry industry.
It is through these mountain forests that the finest backcountry travel waits to be experienced.
About backcountry access on Vancouver Island.
All land areas of Canada in general and Vancouver Island in particular are owned. Backcountry and wilderness areas may look like they are Common Land, open for unimpeded travel, but even if terrain is sufficiently open for cross-country travel (and many forest areas of Vancouver Island are effectively impenetrable Temperate Rain Forest jungle), land areas away from acknowledged roads are in one way or another owned and your uninvited presence will constitute a trespass and a Civil Wrong. If any material damage is caused, a complaint of criminal damage under Common Law may be lodged.
It is therefore important for backcountry travellers to know and understand the basis of their presence on any property or road and be prepared to explain themselves to anyone who may question their presence.
Broadly, land ownership on Vancouver Island falls into two categories, land which is “owned” by the various Government entities of Canada (Crown land) and land which is owned and/or managed by private entities. Across these categories of land ownership, rough gravel road networks have been constructed to facilitate the extraction of forest industry products. It is these gravel roads that offer access to the hinterlands of the island.
At this point it is important to recount some of the post-colonisation industrial history of Vancouver Island in order to understand the modern-day access issues of the backcountries of the island…
A more detailed treatment of “access”, specifically on Vancouver Island can be found at: https://www.gr200.com/post/vancouver-island-backcountry-gravel-roads-access-logistics-and-routes
Robert Dunsmuir and the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway.
In the 1880’s, forty years or so after the establishment of the Victoria trading post, and as a result of political expediency at that time, approximately one quarter of the land area, concentrated on the south of the island, was granted to Robert Dunsmuir and his family. Robert Dunsmuir was a noted “industrialist” who had built a coal empire based around Nanaimo. In exchange for undertaking to build railway infrastructure that the government of the day could not afford, Dunsmuir was given title to approximately 300,000 hectares of indigenous territory. The dispossessed First Nations were not consulted on this land grab, nor did they receive any recompense, compensation or exchange.
The legal and political consequences of this unprecedented “Great Land Grab” are still influencing interactions and relationships between the governments of BC and Canada on one hand and First Nations and the Canadian public on the other.
The Government of Canada (as it was at that time) got what it wanted - a railway northwards from Victoria along the Salish Sea coast to Nanaimo. Dunsmuir got what he wanted - Title to the lands and resources of approximately one third of the island. The First Nations got nothing.
Over the past century and a half, ownership of these “Dunsmuir Legacy” woodlands have shifted and passed from ownership by private individuals to corporate entities and investment companies who contract management of the forests and the forestry industry to forestry companies such as TimberWest, Island Timberlands and lately, First Nations-owned timber companies such as La-kwa sa muqw Forestry. Together these companies operate under the conglomerate Mosaic (aptly titled) as an operational company owned by major BC and Canadian public service pension funds.
These Dunsmuir Legacy lands remain in private, if quasi-anonymous ownership.
For a independent journalist’s view, please see: https://watershedsentinel.ca/article/vancouver-island-land-grab/
Gravel Road access.
Mosaic access gates, open and closed on a particular day.
BC Tree Farm Licence areas on Crown Lands. Compare to the Mosaic map above…
The forestry industry has held responsibility for building access roads to enable the extraction of felled trees. One hundred and fifty years of industrial activity has resulted in an extensive network of rough, rock roads which offer enticing prospects for modern-day recreational travellers.
Backcountry gravel roads running through non-Dunsmuir (Crown) lands have the status of public highway with access (at least to the roadways) and responsibilities of road users (licence, insurance, vehicle registration and motoring laws) aligned with conventional paved roads. Indeed, BC motoring legislation enshrines the status of Crown land Forest Service Roads (FSRs) as public highways.
The gravel roads running through “Mosaic” land retain their private land status. Access is at their discretion and the extension of on-road motor insurance is a grey area. Having said that, Mosaic do require third party insurance of 2 million $Cdn, so presumably if ICBC third party insurance is applicable then so are the other categories of insurance liability?
So how do you know where the Mosaic lands finish and the Crown lands begin?
Fortunately, both Mosaic and the BC Government publish maps.
The BC Government map of Crown Land Tree Farm Licences can be found at
The map above is the Vancouver island detail. The coloured areas are Crown Land Tree Farm Licence areas with associated FSR access opportunities.
The uncoloured map area to the southeast of the island is Mosaic land and can be compared to the Mosaic map…
This map shows which of Mosaic’s gates are open on this particular day. Mosaic has a public access policy that attempts to maximise access at weekends, weather and fire risk conditions permitting.
Do not make the mistake of believing Mosaic deny access to their forest lands. While Mosaic reserves the right to access, they strive to open their gates to permit public recreation access whenever possible, including weekends and public holidays.
Some of the routes described in this guide cross Mosaic-managed lands. If the gates are open, you are invited to pass. You are also required to confine your travels to the established roadways and ride (drive) in a responsible manner, observing the usual motoring legislation such as driver licencing and vehicle registration and insurance.
Before embarking on a planned trip into the backcountry, check that the Mosaic gates will be open by examining the gate map on the Mosaic website. Take careful note of the gate closing times and make sure you are out before the gates close!
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Cross Country-capable motorcycles and route difficulty ratings.
Throughout this book, these routes are described in terms of motorcycle travel. While the author has extensive experience riding these routes, he has no experience travelling by quadbike, Side-by-Side or 4x4 vehicles.
No recommendation is made, either explicitly or implied, for the transit of any vehicle other than motorcycles. Roll-over accidents do happen, the terrain is often steep, loose and precipitous. A vehicle going off the side of these roads will require heavy recovery equipment which will not be close by.
Cross country-capable motorcycles come in many shapes and sizes from manufacturers in Europe, Japan, India and China. For legal operation of these vehicles in Canada, they must be type-approved for Highway use and registered and insured as Highway vehicles. Additionally, the operators of these vehicles must hold a relevant driving licence entitlement from their home jurisdiction.
As such, bikes and riders from non-BC and non-Canadian jurisdictions are entitled and invited to motorised travel in BC, PROVIDED they are legal in their home jurisdiction.
This includes full licence holders from other jurisdictions who would not otherwise be allowed to ride on public highways if they were BC residents. For example, the minimum age requirement for a BC resident to hold a full licence for motorcycles is 19 years. In some US States, the minimum age to hold a full motorcycle licence is less than 19 years of age.
Motorcycles of this “crosscountry capable” genre fall into three categories.
Lightweight single cylinder bikes with an engine size between 125cc and 250cc.
Middleweight Dualsport and Rally Replica bikes, single cylinder engines between 250cc and 650cc.
Heavyweight Adventure bikes, multi cylinder engines of displacement between 650cc and 1.35 litres and upto 170 horsepower…
Bikes in each of these categories come with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Lightweight bikes
For example, Honda 125 Trail and the Yamaha TW200 there are others… are light (easy to pull out of a ditch or hedge), have low seat heights making reaching the ground in tricky circumstances easy and have frugal fuel consumptions.
They have limited engine power and suspension performance which can limit their capability if asked to take their riders into difficult terrain. They also have limited load carrying capacity (passengers or camping equipment) but provided they are not required to be operated outside their design envelope, they will take their riders into the woods and back - without the grandchildren’s inheritance being spent.
Honda CT 125 Trail, 125cc, 8hp, 110Kg. Top speed around 80Kph (50 mph) depending on headwind, gradient, rider weight, da da da…
Yamaha TW200. 198cc, 15hp, 130kg, top speed around 110Kph (65-70mph) again dependent on adverse conditions.
Middleweight Rally Replica
These bikes are, as the name suggests, road legal versions of bikes raced in professional Rally Raid events. As such they conform broadly to the event regulations their competition equivalents are built to, with concessions to mass manufacture for retail markets. These “concessions” include exhaust and engine parameters that comply with road vehicle legislation (noise, emissions, lighting regulations), components tailored for retail sales such as less-than-top-of-the-range suspension components and materials (for example, exhaust systems made in stainless steel rather than titanium…) homologated tyres. The list goes on.
Examples of retail-market Rally Replicas would be the Kove 450 from China and the KTM 450 Rally Replica for example…
Kove 450 and the KTM 450 Rally Replica.
As you might expect, these bikes come at a price premium despite them being de-specified for retail markets. They have uncompromising performance and handling characteristics that novice riders are likely to find challenging and like all highly-strung competition vehicles, they demand regular, careful maintenance if they are to continue giving their best performance. When ridden by capable riders though, bikes in this category can be expected to perform as privateer versions of factory competition machines
Dualsports bikes (DS)
Dualsports (road legal and off-road capable) also fall into this middleweight category. Dualsports typically have single cylinder engines between 250cc and 650cc and are less highly specified in terms of componentry compared to rally replicas. They are, however less demanding to purchase, ride and maintain and, depending on model, have a reputation for reliability.
Examples of Dualsport bikes include models from all four major Japanese factories, Royal Enfield of India and European manufacturers (who increasingly manufacture and assemble bikes elsewhere) and lately China.
Clockwise from top left, Suzuki DRZ400, Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, Kawasaki KLR 650 and Suzuki DR650. For many, Dualsports offer a workable compromise between power and performance, manageable size and weight, cost and capability.
Adventure bikes (Adv)
are physically larger, heavier and more powerful than Dualsports. Engines are two or three cylinder and larger than 650cc. There is an unavoidable trade-off for the greater comfort (less discomfort?) when covering hundreds of highway miles and kilometres when time comes to start on unpaved roads.
Adventure bikes are optimised for highway travel in the same way that DS bikes are optimised for off-highway travel. Tyres are chosen to cope with high engine power, high speeds, high loads and paved surfaces, suspension is tuned to manage the high loaded vehicle weights, on-board electronic systems minimise the challenges posed to operators (antilock brakes, multi-adjustable traction control and power delivery settings, multi-adjustable suspension settings - all that you would expect from expensive vehicles).
Above all, Adv bikes are big. The biggest are very big indeed. And heavy. And tall. And expensive. And every motorcycle falls over eventually. Some fall over more than others. In a backcountry environment, bikes can be expected to fall over in some inconvenient positions. The riding skills required to successfully ride large Adventure bikes into and out of locations that other cross country bikes can be taken are to be admired.
The point of this preamble is to prepare you for the upcoming discussion about difficulty ratings of routes and how those ratings are modified, depending on which bike is being ridden. Meanwhile here are three of the biggest, heaviest, most powerful Adventure bikes in the known universe…
The BMW 1250GS. 1254cc, 136hp, 250kg (before adding luggage) max speed 210Kph
KTM 1390. 1350cc, $25,200Cdn plus taxes, 270kph/170mph, 248kg (before luggage).
Harley Davidson Pan America. 1252cc, 150hp, 260kg, 220kph/140mph. Cost, up to $36,200 CDN (plus taxes?)
Not all Adventure bikes are quarter tonne behemoths but there are design and construction trade-offs against performance and usability across the DS and Adv category. Small is not necessarily beautiful and bigger is not (similarly) better. Buy you bike with a clear understanding of the use you plan to make of it, or plan your trips with a clear understanding of the limitations you and your bike have…
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Route difficulty ratings.
Difficulty ratings for outdoor activity routes have long been established for mountain activities such as climbing, hiking, skiing and mountain biking.
For some of these activities, just one difficulty ratings scheme has been adopted across nations and continents. For other activities, climbing for instance, different schemes are used in different countries.
The application of a specific degree of difficulty, regardless of sport or environment, develops as a consensus opinion of the appropriate community. As yet there is no widespread, universally accepted grading of difficulty for backcountry routes, probably as a consequence of an absence of published DS and Adv routes - especially on Vancouver Island.
This is what this guide book sets out to address.
Dualsport BC, one of the representative bodies for backcountry motorcycling in British Columbia have contributed to the development of, and published a grading structure for crosscountry motorcycle routes and is reproduced below.
This difficulty rating scheme, originally produced for 4x4 vehicles - note reference to “overland rigs”, large articulation, high clearance and lockers (not cubby-holes for dry socks and clean underwear…) has been “calibrated” for motorcycles fitting into the categories outlined above.
It is impossible to escape the significance of rider ability also. Skill, endurance, confidence, experience and a host of other attributes contribute to the subjective perception of a route difficulty. Quantifying these parameters is “somewhat difficult”…
Class 1 and 2 routes contain feature-elements that present minimal difficulties to competent (not expert…) riders on all classes of bike.
Rough surfaces. Small, infrequent obstacles. Short distances of shallow sand, loose gravel, mud and shallow puddles.
At this point in the proceedings, the difficulty classifications begin to diverge for the different types of bikes being ridden and who is riding…
Class 3 routes contain feature-elements which include obstacles to overcome and steep hills (up and down). These obstacles will be more challenging on lightweight bikes due to limited engine power for hill climbing and engine braking for descents, and on heavyweight adventure bikes due to their greater weight and physical size than they would be on mid-sized DS bikes with an advantageous compromise of power, weight and speed.
It would not be unreasonable to classify these Class 3 routes as one level harder on lightweight and Adv bikes compared to DS bikes? Perhaps a further degree of difficulty harder for a less capable rider on a demanding bike??
Class 4 routes as you would expect are more exacting still. As the description explains, sustained ascents and descents with tight corners in awkward terrain. Frequent hazards su as rocks, roots and ledges. Routes at this level can be expected to be more demanding as ascents than they are as descents.
Tackling routes at this degree of difficulty on a lightweight or Adventure bike will present heightened difficulties compared to riders of Dualsport bikes for all of the previously discussed reasons. That isn’t to say that skilled riders of Adventure bikes, with suitable tyres (deep blocked tyres, optimised for cross country riding rather than paved surfaces) can’t ride these routes - BUT agility doesn’t easily fit with quarter tonne motorcycles and 100+hp.
Class 5 and 6 routes pose the most severe riding tests that amateur riders can expect to encounter. Foolhardy to attempt routes at this difficulty alone or unprepared. For expert riders on appropriately prepared competition or rally replica bikes.
Needless to say, there won’t be any Class 5 or 6 routes described in this guidebook.
and to complement this
So, the “middle” of each difficulty grade is pitched to represent a competent rider on a middleweight Dualsport or Rally replica bike. Riders of lesser competence and/or riding a lightweight or Adventure bike can reasonably expect to find the difficulty between half and one grade harder (or perhaps more?).
DS1&2 = Adv 1&2
DS3 = Adv 3+ or 4
DS4 = Adv 4+ or 5
We don’t want to consider DS5 or 6 as this represents serious undertakings beyond the scope of this guidebook.
Route Distance will also have a contribution to the difficulty rating of a route.
Less than 100Km shouldn’t pose any great challenge to practiced crosscountry riders. All bikes likely to be available to motorcycle enthusiasts will have a fuel range of at least 100Km and 100Km can be expected to be completed in less than four hours including breaks for rest, conversation and photography.
Routes between 100 and 200Km will require a degree of planning and preparation. Fuel range and opportunities for refuelling need to be considered, as do arrangements for food and drink supplies for the riders. Not only will riders be wise to let a responsible person know where they are going, when they expect to return and let their “base contact” know of their safe return, they will be wise to plan their journey around rest and refuelling stops. Expect days of 6-8 hours of riding and a corresponding physical demand on the riders.
Routes over 200Km per day are feasible, but expect hard days. A route of such distance can be expected to qualify for a degree of difficulty ONE GRADE HARDER than the individual features within the route would otherwise attract.
When planning such long routes, consider them as expeditions.
Weather.
Fuel.
Food.
Contingency arrangements.
Navigation.
Communication methods with Emergency Services in the absence of Cell phone service. Sells-rescue and recovery…
Mechanical breakdown actions such as punctures or dead engines.
Can you tow a bike with a bike? A skill to be practiced by all.
This should be very similar to planning mountaineering expeditions and “mountain leadership” considerations are directly transferable to mountain motorcycle activities.
Gravel Roads and driving conventions.
In this section, I will try to prepare you for what “other traffic” you can expect to encounter on these gravel highways, how you are best responding to it and what preparations you need to make for yourself and your bike.
The gravel roads of Vancouver Island are open highways. Even the privately managed Mosaic roads will have other road users. People like yourself, cyclists, all manner of four wheel private motorists and most importantly, industrial traffic.
Everyone brings their own agenda to the backcountry - including you. Some agendas might be quite benign, some less so. Driving while intoxicated is more common than you might like to think. You need to take care of your own well-being rather than expecting others to put your interests above their own.
You have of course prepared yourself and your bike for your outing.
Correct clothing and protective equipment (helmet, gloves, boots, eye protection, jacket and trousers). Body armour is up to you - some do, some don’t.
Appropriate tyres for the expected conditions, the rougher it gets the more your tyres need to be optimised for off-road rather than paved roads. Off-road knobbly tyres can produce quite a lot of noise when ridden on tarmac but they can be surprisingly grippy.
To air down or not to air down….? That IS a question! The proponents of reduced tyre pressures off road speak of maximising the tyre’s grip over rough surfaces. The tyre carcass does indeed deform more over irregular surfaces when run at a low(er) pressure. On the face of it, it would appear that an increased contact patch area should result in more tyre grip. It is difficult to quantify the change in tyre grip though. What is more certain is that the possibility of an inner tube pinch flat, when a deformed tyre carcass pinches the inner tube against the wheel rim, increases with decreased tyre pressure, increasing riding speed and increasing surface irregularity.
A typical scenario is riding through an unexpected pothole at speed with reduced tyre pressures resulting in a fully deformed tyre pinching the inner tube. Some call these punctures “snake bites” for the twin holes so caused.
Pinch-flats can be avoided by using tubeless tyres (that are more easily unseated when run a low pressures) and cannot be fitted to wheels that are not specifically designed for tubeless tyres, OR by using one of the commercial inner tube replacement systems (mousse, Tubliss, there are others). These inner tube replacement systems have their own disadvantages such as high cost when compared to conventional inner tubes, difficulty fitting and changing, unsuitability for high speed tarmac operation.
Or, you could just fit terrain-appropriate tyres to begin with and run them at pressures consistent with the speeds you expect to be riding at. Once again, your choice - or if you have tubeless tyres, perhaps you don’t have any choice…?
Plan your route.
Leave details of your outing with someone responsible.
When and where to start, the route, number of people.
Where and when you expect to finish.
Report in when you are done.
Share your route - mapping apps are excellent for this.
Plan your fuel strategy - never pass up the opportunity to refuel, even if you just add 5litres
Food and drink for yourself.
Do you really want to be consuming alcohol and cannabis on your journey? Remember, as a two-wheel traveller, you are a Vulnerable Road User (as are cyclists and walkers).
Never ride faster than you ability to stop in the distance you can see to be clear ahead.
Given the unpredictability of the road surface, expect the available tyre grip to less than you expect…
Treat your front brake with extreme respect. The normal rules of braking on solid tarmac surfaces DO NOT apply to gravel surfaces.
You might need to turn your anti-lock braking systems off, also you might need to understand the effects of the different traction control settings if they are fitted to your bike.
Steep descents, especially on loose surfaces are best tackled in a low gear, using engine braking with dabs of rear brake to add to braking effects.
Practice restarting a stalled engine while on the move, if for example you add a little too much rear brake and stall the engine. If your bike is kickstart only, you might have a problem unless you can bump start the engine.
DO NOT descend hills in neutral or with the clutch pulled in and the engine disconnected from the gearbox and back wheel.
Speed limits, road hazards and other hidden delights.
Generally there is a blanket 60kph maximum speed limit on the gravel highways. You will not see repeater speed limit reminder signs like you would on paved roads. You will probably not see any conventional road signs such as Stop signs, painted road edge and centre lines, indications of when overtaking is not allowed. The gravel roads are where you need to be thinking for yourself.
Some roads have a 40kph maximum limit and if you ride any of these roads you will quickly see why. They are steep, narrow, winding with ill defined edges and deep side-ditches. Sometimes there is a canyon just off to one side promising that if you were to deviate into it, you least problem might be how to get your bike out of it.
The roads receive little maintenance, unless a logging company has ongoing forestry operations that require roads of a standard to truck logs out. One of the backcountry motoring laws requires motorists to accept responsibility for their own actions and any misfortune that may occur as a result of the condition of the road.
Expect potholes, deep puddles in wet weather, clouds of dust as thick as any fog in dry weather, fallen trees, lost loads from trucks, animals (more of which later…).
When riding, you need to be constantly scanning all you can see with 100% concentration on your task in hand. A situation can develop in the blink of a proverbial eye.
But all of this can be dealt with… Don’t get the impression that you are riding into a minefield. You do need to be prepared and practiced though - hence this book and the hours of graduated practice you are going to put in.
The backcountry gravel road network is a highly dynamic environment. It is reasonably well mapped - at least on Vancouver Island, but it is not highly maintained. Roads can be closed for reasons that can be considered as short-term, medium-term or long-term.
Short term closures are those that are brought about by the effects of weather. Wind-felled trees, washed out culverts, there are places where rivers in spate have entirely washed away 50 metres of roadway leaving a 25 metre deep canyon (for example Gorge Main, south of the Alberni Inlet).
Medium term closures are those imposed by the logging companies who bear the financial burden of road construction and maintenance. Collateral routes may be closed when road maintenance is needed but there is no commercial need for that route.
Long term closures are brought about by Mother Nature reclaiming the forest by the encroachment of grass-bushes-saplings-trees. While these routes remain passable they present an interesting riding challenge but eventually the thickness of the thickets make the challenge rather tiresome and you may want to about-turn and go another way.
I am approaching the data limit for posting to this blog now, so I will stop here and pick things up in Part Two.
JDB 13/11/26
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